Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to reducing forces transmitted from one structure to another. More particularly, certain embodiments of the present invention relate to reducing forces transmitted to a diagnostic medical system during shipment.
Diagnostic medical systems, such as a diagnostic X-ray system having a large C-arm, are complex, large, heavy, and expensive systems that need to be protected from damage due to shock and vibration during shipment. Units are typically shipped all around the world in vehicles experiencing various road conditions.
Various packaging systems and methods have been used in shipping medical systems. For example, one method includes mounting the medical system directly onto a wooden base with the chassis of the system elevated and supported on wooden strips. Another method includes sandwiching expanded polyurethane (EP) foam between two layers of plywood and mounting the system on the top layer. The two methods typically do not provide the required isolation from shock and vibration. Other methods include using a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pallet with the system mounted on the pallet. The tooling cost and per unit production cost of the HDPE pallet often prove to be prohibitive, however.
Some methods include using relatively sophisticated isolators incorporated into relatively sophisticated configurations. For example, a method described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,866 to Porter describes having isolators mounted between a case and a card cage within the case. U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,066 Snaith, et al. describes an isolator having a plurality of arched elements arranged circumferentially about an axis between two structures. U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,400 to Jensen describes an isolator having a plurality of concentrically-arranged, nested, bell-shaped components stacked in parallel about a common axis. U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,038 to Gilbert, et al. describes an isolator with flexural support element pairs being located and offset in planes at acute angles from the horizontal defined by a base means.
The methods and systems described above tend to be complex, expensive, and/or inadequate for reducing shock and vibration. For example, the isolators described above have multiple damping elements arranged in complex configurations.
A need exists for a simple damper with a single damping element capable of providing resistance to shock and vibration forces in multiple orthogonal spatial directions. A need also exists for a relatively simple packaging system that uses a plurality of the simple dampers in a simple configuration.